Risk in Charter School Lending: Indicators of Distress and the Charter School Growth Fund’s Approach to Risk Management

Resource Selection
Start Date
16 Sep, 2020
End Date
16 Sep, 2020

Charter school lenders make decisions every day about which schools to provide financial support to while weighing the risks associated with making those decisions. The purpose of this webinar was to explore how Credit Enhancement grantees tolerate risk while supporting innovative charter schools who might not otherwise be able to receive funding.

To accomplish this, NCSRC shared with attendees its latest research on the indicators of distress in charter schools. Derived from interviews with charter school authorizers, these are the factors that start appearing when a school is entering into a downward spiral. The motivation for this research is to better understand those early warning signs of schools in distress so schools, boards, funders, or authorizers can intervene and course-correct before it is too late. While this research is primarily pertinent to authorizers, funders also have a vested interest in understanding schools’ indicators of distress.

To further explore the concept of risk management, the second part of the presentation explores how the Charter School Growth Fund approaches investment in schools. They have created a system of indicators in a variety of domains, to help inform their investment strategy and approach to risk.

This event was presented in collaboration with the Charter School Lenders Coalition.

Presenters

  • Aimee Evan, National Charter School Resource Center
  • Laura Groth, Ed.D., National Charter School Resource Center
  • Hannah Sullivan, National Charter School Resource Center
  • Ian Connell, Charter School Growth Fund